Masterbrand Cabinets, Inc., d/b/a Omega Cabinetry and Ace American Insurance Company v. Chad Simons, 20-1635

Chad Simons, employed by Masterbrand/Omega since 1997, sustained a work-related ruptured right quadriceps tendon in November 2015 and underwent surgery in February 2016.
Dr. Jason Stanford (selected by Omega) performed the surgery; Simons completed PT and was discharged at maximum medical improvement (MMI) in August 2016.
Simons received an award of permanent partial disability after arbitration; the workers’ compensation commissioner affirmed on intra-agency appeal; the district court upheld the commissioner; Omega appealed.
Omega argued the injury was a scheduled loss to the leg (knee/quadriceps) and not an unscheduled, whole-body disability; Simons and the commissioner maintained the impairment extended beyond the scheduled member to the body as a whole.
Multiple physicians (including an IME by Dr. Delbridge and Omega’s own expert) and Simons’s testimony supported right-hip loss of motion/strength and functional limitations; the commissioner found those opinions more persuasive than the surgeon’s narrower view.
The court reviewed agency legal interpretations de novo where appropriate and factual findings for substantial evidence, and affirmed the commissioner’s whole-body impairment ruling.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the quadriceps-tendon injury is a scheduled leg loss or an unscheduled, whole-body disability	Effects of the injury impaired the body as a whole; benefits should be unscheduled	Injury situs is the leg (knee/quadriceps), therefore scheduled-loss benefits only	Commissioner and courts held unscheduled whole-body disability; agency interpretation was proper and statute liberally construed
Whether substantial evidence supports a finding of whole-body impairment (hip involvement)	Multiple doctors and Simons’s credible testimony show right-hip loss of motion/strength and functional limitations tied to the work injury	Surgeon opined injury was isolated to the knee/quadriceps; Omega contends record shows no hip injury	Substantial evidence supports commissioner’s findings; credibility and weight of expert opinions were for the factfinder; affirmed

Sladek v. Emp. Appeal Bd., 939 N.W.2d 632 (Iowa 2020) (standard of review for judicial review under the Iowa Administrative Procedure Act)
Neal v. Annett Holdings, Inc., 814 N.W.2d 512 (Iowa 2012) (when agency lacks clear interpretive authority, court reviews legal interpretation)
Waldinger Corp. v. Mettler, 817 N.W.2d 1 (Iowa 2012) (workers’ compensation statute construed liberally for employee benefit)
Barton v. Nevada Poultry Co., 110 N.W.2d 660 (Iowa 1961) (distinction between "injury" and "industrial disability" and scope of paragraph (u))
Lauhoff Grain Co. v. McIntosh, 395 N.W.2d 834 (Iowa 1986) (difference between scheduled-member benefits and paragraph for unscheduled disabilities)
Evenson v. Winnebago Indus., Inc., 881 N.W.2d 360 (Iowa 2016) (factual findings upheld if supported by substantial evidence)
Larson Mfg. Co. v. Thorson, 763 N.W.2d 842 (Iowa 2009) (appellate review focuses on whether substantial evidence supports commissioner findings)
Dunlavey v. Econ. Fire & Cas. Co., 526 N.W.2d 845 (Iowa 1995) (credibility and weight of testimony are for the factfinder)
Ideen v. Am. Signature Graphics, 595 N.W.2d 233 (Neb. 1999) (test focuses on location of residual impairment, not site of original injury)